Aki fukami susono no makuzu karegare ni uramuru kaze no oto nomi zo suru

秋深みすそ野の真葛かれがれに
うらむる風の音のみぞする

Roma-ji: Aki fukami susono no makuzu karegare ni uramuru kaze no oto nomi zo suru
English Translation: Autumn has grown deep,
and the kudzu of the slopes
withers, fading off—
turning leaves in bitter grief,
only the wind's sound is heard.
Meaning: Autumn has deepened, and the kudzu on the mountain's skirts withers away—only the sound of the wind is heard, turning back the leaves as if in reproach.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 307

Headnote: "Poems of late autumn"
As autumn deepens, the kudzu of the foothill moor withers away, and only the sound of the wind turning back its leaves is heard, like a voice of reproach. Overlaying the withering kudzu and the sound of the wind with the loneliness of visits broken off, the poet portrays the desolate scene of autumn's close.
The Ruijū text places this poem in the love section with the headnote "Composed on the spirit of love." The device of playing on urami, "seeing the underside" and "resentment," because kudzu leaves flip over in the wind, appears in such Kokin Wakashū poems as Taira no Sadafumi's, in which the autumn wind turns back the kudzu leaves and the poet's resentment remains however much he resents.

Line 1, aki fukami, means "since autumn has deepened," with mi on an adjective stem giving the reason.
Line 2 refers to the kudzu growing on the moor at the foot of the mountain, ma being an honorific prefix. The kudzu leaves of 218 and 219 are sung here in their withered state.
Line 3: karegare is a pivot word meaning both the kudzu "withering away" and visits "growing rare."
Line 4: uramuru is a pivot word meaning both showing the underside of the kudzu leaves and "resenting."
Line 5 concludes the binding particle zo with the attributive suru, "only the sound of the wind." Four poems from here through 310 sing of late autumn, leading toward the end of the section.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
Prev Poem: Mushi no ne mo honoka ni narinu hanasusuki aki no sueba ni shimo ya okuramu
Next Poem: Akihagi no shitaba no momiji utsuroinu nagatsuki no yo no kaze no samusa ni